ATM & Store Receipts Are Toxic to Your Kid -- Who Knew?!

And now, for today's episode of THINGS MOMS NEED TO WORRY ABOUT: Receipts are dangerous. Have you heard this one yet? Paper receipts from stores have bisphenol A (BPA) in them. I know that sounds insane because they're paper. I mean, how does BPA get onto paper? And why is it there at all? And what kind of crazy, upside-down world do we live in when there are dangerous chemicals on our freaking receipts?!?

I just ... sometimes this world.

Anyway, obviously the big takeaway from this news is that we shouldn't let our toddlers play with receipts -- or god forbid, put those things in their mouths. But also: Can we please stop putting BPA on receipts?

That's actually happening, little by little. Suffolk County, in New York, just banned BPAs in receipt paper. And now that Suffolk has made this move, hopefully this will inspire parents and leaders around the country to pass similar laws in their community. If we can make BPAs disappear from bottles, maybe we can make it disappear from paper, too!

Meanwhile, pediatricians recommend parents keep paper receipts away from their children. But that's not all. They also recommend avoiding paper receipts and using electronic receipts as often as possible. (This has become really popular lately, have you noticed?) You should wash your hands after handling receipts. And I hadn't even thought of this myself, but we shouldn't be tossing paper receipts into the recycling because they can contaminate that paper, too.

Environmental Working Group has more information on BPAs in store receipts. And this is kind of cool: You can spot BPA-free paper receipts, at least the ones made by Appleton Papers. The company (who supplies about half of the BPA-free receipt paper out there) weaves red fibers into this paper, which you can see on the back of your receipts.